ABSTRACT

Zoophytes, that is communities of macroinvertebrates associated with 13 species of higher aquatic plants, including submerged plants, half-submerged plants, and plants with floating leaves, was studied in spring and summer 1992, and also in spring 1997, in water bodies of the Kiliya delta of the Danube river.
The influence of the environmental factors, and also of the species of higher aquatic plants, on the distribution, quantitative indices, and production of zoophytes was assessed.
The species structure of invertebrates associated with macrophytes depended mainly on the mineralization of water, and also on the speed of water flow. The total numbers, biomass, and production of zoophytes were conditioned by the area of the surface of macrophytes.